Although we're still in an end of summer weather pattern with hot and humid weather, the smallmouth action is definitely starting to resemble typical fall patterns. I spent the past two mornings on the bay with Mike Shouse from Austin, TX and his father Corbin from Houston, and we caught some incredible fish. Monday was an experience in Wisconsin weather. In four hours of fishing, we had rain, sun, west, south, and east winds with flat calm in between. Welcome to fishing the big lake!!! After a slow start, we found some very nice fish up to 21" on rocky structure in 11' to 12' of water. The wind was definitely a key factor, and once we got the right chop, the action was great. All fish were caught on jigs and minnows as we drifted with the wind.

Day two brought overcast skies and a steady southwest wind. Perfect!!! We started out hot with three nice fish right off the bat. After a mid morning lull, we made a slight move. That was all it took. We had steady action throughout the rest of the morining and ended with a flurry that included a missed opportunity at a triple and a 22" beast with a 14.5" girth landed by Corbin. What a fish!!! Slip bobbers were the key today as the fish definitely preferred the presentation suspended over rocks in 10' to 14' of water. Water temps over the past two days stayed pretty steady between 66 and 67 degrees. Mike and Corbin did an outstanding job managing the chaos during an incredible trip. Several fish we landed had partners along side, and we all agreed that one of them was larger than the 22" we landed. Who knows???

Back down to Hayward over the next few days. I'll keep you posted...

1 Comments

September 10, 2013 @ 10:05 pm

E. Taylor

Like to be the first to comment. I know these two gentlemen well. Looks like it was a great trip. Super jealous. Way to go. Couldn't have happened to two nicer guys.